Qatar Airways Threatens to Cancel Pratt & Whitney Engine Order
Qatar Airways used Pratt & Whitney engines for their Airbus fleet however Qatar Airways mentioned that they were experiencing a high number of engine related problems. This is not the only case that Pratt & Whitney has been dealing with. Gulf airline also ordered over 45 Airbus aircrafts. These Airbus aircrafts are the A430neo with the Pratt & Whitney engine which was supposed be expecting to be delivered near the end of the year however, Gulf airline rejected these aircrafts once they got word about the engine problems. Instead, the first of these jets was handed over to Lufthansa last month.
Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker, has a record of being very critical of manufactures at air shows.
During the Singapore Airshow, Baker expressed his concerns for the A320neo. There are a lot of things wrong with A320neo, with the aircraft engines. So we have refused to accept those airplanes. Baker was quick to clear Airbus’ name. Let me be very clear: it is not the fault of Airbus. Airbus has delivered all their part, and as you know, no airplane can fly without an engine and they have huge issues with the engine. Baker goes and elaborates a little further into the problem. I don't want to get into the detail but Qatar Airways will not accept an aircraft with those engines unless they are very much corrected. Otherwise we have no alternative but to look at an alternate engine supply.
According an interview with Reuters, Pratt & Whitney President Bob Leduc mentioned that there were problems that affected the engine’s start up time which also led to faulty software messages. Leduc is working quickly to resolve this matter..